Can carrier



sept. 23, 195s L Q HOLMBERG 2,853,186

CAN CARRIER Filed Nov. 2, 1954 ZZ NVENTOR.

United States Ofice CAN CARRIE` 'R Lawrence ;.Hulmberg, Wnnetka, lll. Application November 2, 1,@4, Serial lNo. 466,259 4 claims. (ci. lzoss) The present inventionrela'tes to `a novel` carrierfor a plurality of articlesland more particularly to a no'vel carrier for cans and like articles.

A number of paperboardy or cardboard carriers for cans have come into vgeneral use which carriers are geneially iii Vthe form. of a box in which the cans are enclosed. Such heretofore known carriers require a substantial amount of stock material and are relatively difficult to make and assemble so that the cost of the ultimate package provided thereby is materially increased.

A primary object of the present invention i's" to provide' a novel can carrier made of4 cardboard, paperboard, rany other suitable sheet material, which novell carrier r'qu'ire's substantially less` stock material than carriers heretofore in general use so that` the' costi of the ultimate package is substantially reduced.

Another object of. the present invention is to provide anovel carrier of the above describedv type which isv of greatly simplified construction so that it may be readily and economically manufactured and assembled with a plurality of cans or similar articles to be carried.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel carrier structure of the above described type which is formed so that substantial portions of the usual labels on the cans or other articles confined by the carrier are exposed to the view of a purchaser.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel paperboard or other suitable sheet material carrier which requires considerably less stock material and is of greatly simplied construction while still being capable of providing a rigid package which may be easily handled and which is resistent to inadvertent tearing.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a package including a plurality of cans in the novel carrier structure of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken along line 2--2 in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a partial cross sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of a slightly modified embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a blank used to provide a modified form of the novel carrier structure;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a package formed with the blank of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 7--7 in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of another modified form of this invention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings wherein like parts are designated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, a package 10 embodying one form of the present invention is shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 and includes a plurality of cans 12 or similar articles of known construction and having end flanges 14,

2,853,186 Parenteel` Sept.L 23, 1958 2 and acarr-ier structure 16. As shown in the drawings; the cans of. the package 10 are arranged in two stacks disposedin side-by-side relationship.

The carrier structure 16 includes a band 1-8 of heavy paper, cardboard,; paperboard, plastic -sheet material, sheet metal or` any other desired` sheet material.v The band 18 is tightly wrapped around the two stacks of cans in the mannerl shown andv overlapping portionsl 20` and- 22 of the bandv are glued together. It should be noted that the band 18 is provided with a pair of elongated nan-ow slots 24 and-26.through whichy the adjacent flanges of the upper and lower cans in each stack extend. Thus,A the edgesr ofthe slots engage the` flanges of the cans to prei vent axialseparation o f the-upper and lower cans. The slotV 24 is preferablyy located substantially midway betweenrthe overlappingportions ofthe band 18 so that theoverlapping, portionsiare backed up by the cans in the manner shown best in Fig.- 2. This arrangement` facili tatesA applying the bandv to the cans andv gluing or otherwise securing the overlapping portions together. The slot24v preferably hasfa lengthwhich-is substantially equal to one-half `of-the circumference of the cans so that a maximum ofthercircumferential length of the can flanges will extend through the slot to provide the most secure package. o The' slot 26 is also preferably formed with a lengthequal to` about one-half of the circumferential dimension of. the cans, and, thus, it will. be appreciated thaty a: portion of thel slot 26 will be formed. in one end portion ofthe band 18= and another portion of the slot 26 will be formed in the opposite end portion of the band.

In order substantially to `rigidity the package a separatornmember 28 which may bet formed ofk cardboard. or the like` isplaced. between. the upper and lower cans. As shown best in Figs. 2 and 3 the separator member 28 extends between the upper and lower cans of both stacks and is formed so that its periphery is substantially coextensive with the flanges of the cans. This separator member prevents tilting of the upper and lower cans in each stack relative to each other, which tilting would make for a loose package and might permit the cans to fall from the package. It has been found that without the separator member, relative tilting of the upper and lower cans may occur whenever the cans slide or shift laterally relative to each other so that their anges are no longer in axial alignment.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a package 10a embodying a slightly modified form of the present invention. This package differs from the package described above in that it incorporates three cans in each stack. The carrier structure of the package 10a is substantially identical to the above described carrier structure as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals with the suffix a added to corresponding elements. Of course the band or strap 18a is modified so that it overlaps all three cans in each stack and it is provided with slots 30 and 32 which function and are formed in substantially the same manner as the slots 24a and 26a.

Fig. 5 shows a sheet material strip or blank 18b for forming the package 10b shown in Fig. 6 and which embodies a further slightly modified form of the present invention. This package differs in that it is provided with an integral handle flap 34 articulated to the body of the blank along line 36 and provided with a finger slot 38. Again the carrier structure 16b is essentially identical to the above described carrier structure as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals with the suffixb added to corresponding elements. In this embodiment the band or strap 18h is applied to the cans in the same manner as the strap 18 except that the handle portion is not glued to the underlying end portion 22b. Thus, the handle may be easily folded from the inoperative position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7 to its operative full line position.

In Fig. 8 there is shown another modied embodiment of the present invention which is identical to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 as indicated by the application of identical reference numerals to corresponding elements except for the fact that the carrier structure of this embodiment is provided with a separate handle mernber 40. The handle -member 40 is preferably formed from paperboard or the like and is provided with a pair of marginal base portions 42 and, 44 to which central grip portions 46 and 48 are respectively articulated along scored bend lines. Finger openings 50 are formed in the grip portions.

The handle 40 may be applied to the carrier structure merely by gluing the base portions 42 and 44 to the band or strap 18, and preferably the handle is located at one end of the package in the manner shown.

From the above description it is seen that the present invention has provided a novel carrier structure for a plurality of cans or similar articles, which carrier structure may be simply and economically manufactured and requires considerably less stock material than paperboard carriers now in general use. Furthermore, it is seen that with the carrier structure of this invention a rigid package is provided which may be easily handled while at the same time substantial portions of the cans or other articles are left exposed so that the usual labels or the like thereon may be easily read by a purchaser.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein it is obvious that many structural details may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A package comprising a plurality of juxtaposed stacks of articles, a pair of articles in each of said stacks having adjacently disposed generally axially aligned end anges, a sheet material strip snugly encircling said stacks and having end portions thereof secured together, said strip having a plurality of spaced slot means therein receiving portions of said adjacent end flanges of the articles in each of said stacks for preventing axial separation of said articles, and a sheet material separator member disposed between the adjacent end flanges of the articles in each of said stacks for preventing relative tilting of the articles in each of saidr stacks in the event the end flanges become out of axial alignment.

2. A package, as defined in claim 1, wherein said end portions of the strip overlap each other and are secured together by means of an adhesive material, and wherein said overlapping end portions are backed up by the articles in one of said stacks.

3. A package, as defined in claim 1, which includes a sheet material handle member, said handle member having a base portion secured to said sheet material strip, and a pair of grip portions articulated to said base portion along spaced generally parallel bend lines.

`4. A'package, as defined in claim 1, which includes a sheet material handle member integral with and articulated to one end portion of said sheet material strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,902,206 Wrigley Mar. 24, 1933 2,151,025 Goldberg Mar. 21, 1939 2,603,923 Chidsey July 22, 1952 2,660,300 Pauls Nov. 24, 1953 2,677,460 Johnson et al. May 4, 1954 2,679,281 Paulucci May 25, 1954 2,687,231 Somers Aug. 24, 1954 2,706,039 Springate Apr. 12, 1955 

